An experience today made me re-aware of my opinions on the issue of welfare. The first time I ever came face-to-face with my opinions on this issue was in college. I was working with a young, single mom who was struggling to make ends meet. She was working as many hours as she could get, all while going to school and being a mom. I would occasionally give her a ride to work, and on one of these days she was telling me how she didn't have money to buy groceries to get them through the rest of the week. I asked her if she could get food stamps, and she told me she didn't qualify because she made too much money. Too much money. Working part-time as a non-commissioned sales person at a shoe store. I was dumbfounded. I thought, of all people, she should be getting food stamps. Here is a woman who, in spite of the not so great choices she knew she made in the past, was doing everything she could to improve life for herself and her son.

Needless to say this situation made me angry. How could this happen? How did our welfare system get so screwed up? Today I was faced with a somewhat opposite situation. I found myself talking with a woman who, in spite of severe financial strain, would not get a job because if she did she would lose her Medicaid and Social Security disability benefits. She did say she would take a job that paid "under the table" (her words), but that she didn't believe in paying taxes. It was all I could do to restrain myself from saying, "Excuse me...you feel fine with using government resources, but you don't want to pay taxes to help fund the very resources you use?" That was not the point of our conversation, so I reluctantly bit my tongue. But I'm letting it loose here.

How is this possible, that we have created a system that punishes those who are trying to get on their feet and encourages the rest to stay where they are? This has to change, and I would like to propose a new plan for this change. I promise I didn't steal that from Obama. Anyhow, my plan is this:

Welfare and Social Security disability benefits will be provided to anyone who:
1. Can prove that they are disabled to the extent that they absolutely cannot work, even with existing ADA accommodations made for them.
2. Has a job yet still makes poverty level income or below (I also think we need to readjust our definition of poverty level).

Anyone who is able to work yet chooses not to do so will not receive benefits. Period. Yes, this plan is simple, but does it really need to be more complicated than this? I am so tired of hearing stories of people being penalized because they are trying to get ahead. I am equally tired of seeing people who are just trying to take advantage of the system, or in the case of the woman I met today, who are choosing to stay in the system because they can't see a good way out of it. The system needs to encourage people to make their lives better so that one day they won't have to rely on that system. Why is this such a hard concept for our government to put into practice?